Wheel shield support



Sept. 2, 1952 L. s. v VAN ANTwERP WHEEL SHIELD SUPPORT Filed March 16,1950 Lyl@ S. Van Awww@ IN V EN TOR.

Patented Sept. 2, 1952 @UNITED STATES PATENT oFFICEvf-f;

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sHIELD SUPPORT Lyleis; van Antwerp, Washington, D. 'CQApplication-March.,16, 1950,?!SerialNo.v 1495928 6 Claims.

to :provide 'fa wheel `iishi'eld :support n yembodying cushioning :meansthat will prevent i rattling :or .ibanging fduring movement of a'vehicle on which thesupport is'mounted.

:.furtherlobject r of `the present invention is Tto'provide ia iclosuremeans ifor the Vwheel .open- -ingzin ai fender :including .fa pluralityof. resilient nngersthatf'are adapted-colpe yieldingly received #in:apertures provided in theinturned Hangeofa fvehi'cle fender.

V.A still further" aim of the present invention. is--toz'providefa"device of' the aforementioned 'character .thatisextremely 'neat *and J'attractive in fappearance "to Ladd to the'attractiveness of a vehicle :onwhich fthe Isame is mounted, AstrongxandArelia'blesin iuse, fconvenient to vremove `and "rerplacefortaccesstozavehiclewheel, inexpensive ito manufacture f and iinstall, and :otherwise'.wll `iadapted :fori4 theipurp'oses for 'which the same is intended.

1@ther.'dlojents,andadvantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described `and 1 claimed, referencebeing .had to theV accompanying drawing forming part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, ,ancLin which: ,A

Figure 1'is'aninsi'de 'elevational view of a vehiclefender and showingthe present invention mountdtliereon; Y `1 f iFigure i2 iis `an`enlarged *vertical sectionalfview tta'ken'substantially on thelplane vofsection line Af z--fi .treasure V1; Y, j

"Figure'lis la horizontal-sectional view ftafken substantially on theVplane of #section iline f3- 3 foi' :Figure i1' "tand,

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken substantially on theplane of section line 4 4 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the numeral IIJ represents a vehicle fender having the usualwheel opening l2 there- ,2 M in. `The-fender -l rincludesan.inturnedffiange l4,f=about the opening l2,AhavinghorizontalaendVportions I6 and I8. f .The -wheel shield'device 20, constituting vthepresent'invention, is .composed of av closure-memfber :orrsemieciroularplate -22 `-whose i curved edge risrrolledV inwardly to formra channelor fianged porton':24. .The straight lower .edge ofrthezmem- 'ber :22 isalso turned inwardly to formua'lowfer flanged :portion 26.

An elongated resilient .strip .28 is :receivedin thev channel 24 andincludes 'an' extensions!) `that .is `interposeolbetween the channel 24and the outeresurfaceof .the :fender I IJ, 'as shown -in 'Fi-gures:2;-tand 3, topprevent-the channel..24 ffrom :marringior'scratohing Ythesurface of the` fender. ,AV spring wire member32, .embraced by the:strip T28 and received'in'the channel .f2-4, yieldinglyrretains thestrip 28 within the channel 24,--altheugh fanyfsuitable meansmay beemployed for holding the strip-28 within the channel 24.

:Meansis provided for aligningand retaining 'the' olosuremember 2-2` inregistryfwithwtheopening l2, :and `this means Vcomprises -a-pluralityfof fspaced parallel reinforcing :and `strengthening v`strips2-34 lthat are Awelded or otherwise .suitably Iand permanently fixed Atothe inner-surface ofthe closuremember 22. .Aniangle `bracketA 36'` is:fixed ifbyzwelding or the liketo eachofthestripsdeand these brackets'36underlie and arev'spaced from ttheflange .14 as shown in Figures 1l-and2-roffthe dr'awings.

zTheranged-'portions 38 of a pluralityrofupstanding ',hollowzresilientfingers or inretaining members T40 are secured 'by Y rivets or :thelike-Eto vthe horizontalzlflangeszof 'the angleabrackets -36. The.fingers Aim :include .rounded upperrendiporftions H32 and reducedl'portions `lili -fjoiningfthe iroundedrupperendportions-42. f' Thefender fiange |'4:1is::provided"with 'a plu- :Iralit'y' ofr'vlerticalffap'ertures l'lll1;'h'at^frec:eive 'resillient lor lrubbergrommets tor sleeves "'48 and the reduced'portionsid f of "the'ngers F40are yielding?- 'lyreeeived inthe 's'leeves48, as shown in FigureQ ofY'the l"drawings, to `prevent movement -ofthe losuref member relative tothe'fender untilac- Vcess to" the wheel, shieldedby' the closure member,is desired at which time a manual force will be suicient to remove thefingers from the sleeves. Additional means is provided for detachablysecuring the closure member 22 to the fender. This latest means includesa pair of attaching arms 50 and 52 that are secured by rivets or thelike to the upper face of the lower flanged portion 26. These arms 50and 52 include laterally and longitudinally offset end portions 54 and56 that underlie the end portions I6 and I8 respectively.

Bolts 58 extend upwardly through the end portions 54, 56 and the endportions I6, I8 of the flange I4 and the upper ends of the bolts arethreaded to receive nuts 60. Reinforcing plates 62, overlying the endportions I6 and I8, are secured by welding or the like to the endportions I6 and I8 and the bolts 58 also extend through the plates 62.

Resilient or rubber washers 64 are received on the bolts 58 and arepositioned between the heads of the bolts and the end portions 54, 56.Other resilient or rubber washers 66 are received on the bolts 58 andare located between the end portions 54, 56 and the end portions I6, I8.Additional washers 68 are received on the bolts 58 and are positionedbetween the nuts 60 and the reinforcing plates 62.

In practical use of the present invention, the device is applied to thefender l0 by inserting the fingers 40 into the sleeves 48 and thenapplying the bolts 58, cushioning and anti-rattling sleeves 64 and 66,washers 68, and nuts 60.

In View of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

f 1. In a vehicle fender having a wheel opening and an inturned flangeabout the opening and including horizontal end portions, a wheel shielddevice comprising a closure member in registry with the opening, meanscarried by the closure member engaging the flange to retain the closuremember'in registry with the opening, attaching arms carried by saidclosure member and underlying said end portions, bolts extending throughsaid arms and said end portions, said bolts including lower headportions and upper threaded portions, nuts threaded on the upperportions of said bolts, and resilient cushioning washers received onsaid bolts and located between` said end portions and said arms and alsobetween said head portions and said arms, said closure member includinga flanged portion concentric with and radially outwardly from saidopening, and a cushioning strip supported on said flanged portion andresting against the fender about the opening.

` 2. In a vehicle fender having a Wheel opening and an inturned angeabout the opening and including horizontal end portions, a wheel shielddevice comprising a closure member in registry with the opening, meanscarried by the closure member engaging the flange to retain the closuremember in registry with the opening, attaching arms carried by saidclosure member and underlying said end portions, bolts extending throughsaid arms and said end portions, said bolts including lower headportions and upper threaded portions, nuts threaded on the upperportions of said bolts, and resilient cushioning washers received onsaid bolts and located between said end portions and said arms and alsobetween said head portions and said arms, said fiange including aplurality of spaced apertures, reinforcing strips on the inner face ofsaid closure member, and a plurality of upstanding hollow resilientfingers mounted on said strips and yieldingly received in saidapertures.

3. The combination of claim 2 and resilient sleeves retained in saidapertures and yieldingly receiving said fingers.

4. In a vehicle fender including a Wheel opening and an inturned flangeabout the opening and having horizontal end portions and spacedapertures, a wheel shield device comprising a closure member in registrywith the opening and including a flanged portion about the opening anddisposed radially outwardly from the edge defining the opening, aresilient strip on said flanged portion yieldingly bearing against thefender radially outwardly from the edge defining the opening, meanscarried by the lclosure member yieldingly engaged in the apertures inthe flange for aligning and retaining the closure member in registrywith the opening, and additional means mounted on said closure memberand attached to the end portions of said flange for holding the closuremember on the fender.

5. In a vehicle fender shield including a wheel opening and an inturnedflange about the opening, a wheel shield device comprising a closuremember supported in registry with the opening and including an innerface, a plurality of reinforcing strips xed to the inner face of saidclosure member, angle brackets secured to said strips and includinghorizontal flanges, an upstanding hollow and resilient finger supportedon the horizontal flange of each angle bracket, said fingers includingrounded upper end portions, said inturned ange including openings, andresilient sleeves secured in said openings and yieldingly engaging theupper end portions of said fingers.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said plurality of fingers includesa central finger and a pair of end fingers, said fingers being spacedparallel to each other.

LYLE S. VAN ANTWERP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Schatzman June 19, '1

